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A Doll's House – Henrik Ibsemi
How It All Goes Down
At the beginning of the play, all seems well. Nora and Torvald Helmer appear quite happy together. Torvald speaks to his wife in a rather demeaning way, but she doesn't really seem to mind. The Helmers are both quite excited because Torvald has gotten a new job as the manager of a bank. The couple won't have to worry about money anymore. Nora's old school friend, Mrs. Christine Linde, arrives. She's been recently widowed and is looking for work. Christine is hoping that Torvald might be able to hook her up with a job. Nora tells her friend that she'll ask him. Over the course of their conversation, Nora confesses to Christine that she has a secret debt. Nora refuses to tell Christine who she borrowed money from, but does explain why she had to borrow it. Early in the Helmers' marriage, Torvald got sick from overwork. Doctors prescribed a trip south to warmer climates as the only way to save him. At the time, the Helmers didn't have the money for such a trip. To save Torvald's pride, Nora borrowed money without his knowledge and funded a year in Italy. In order to pay off the debt, she's been skimming from the allowance Torvald gives her and secretly working odd jobs. Nora is especially happy about Torvald's new job, because now money won't be a concern. A creepy man named Krogstad shows up. He works at the bank that Torvald is about to manage. It seems like Nora knows him, but we aren't told why. He goes in to see Torvald. Christine tells Nora that she once knew Krogstad. We get the idea that they once had a thing for each other. Dr. Rank enters. He's a Helmer family friend and is dying of tuberculosis of the spine. He talks about how corrupt and morally diseased Krogstad is, to which Christine says we should try to help the diseased. Torvald comes out of his office and Nora asks him about a job for Christine

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